UCSB Exacts Revenge on UC Davis, Wins Eighth in a Row

With revenge on their minds, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team didn't want to risk having UC Davis stop another long winning streak at the Thunderdome.

Last season the Aggies handed the Gauchos their lone Big West Conference defeat and ended a 14-game winning streak.

On Thursday night, UCSB hit a season-high eight three-pointers and shot out to a big lead with some hot shooting en route to a 64-51 victory. The win extended the Gauchos' winning streak to eight straight.

UCSB improves to 11-6 overall and 6-0 in the Big West while UC Davis falls to 7-10, 3-3.

"Last year they beat us at home, so that was kind of my thing, to be able to take that back," said senior Sha'Rae Gibbons, who had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. "You can always find something to motivate you."

Obviously UCSB did. Deadlocked at 10-10, the Gauchos went on a 19-2 run, taking a 29-12 lead with 5:41 remaining in the first half. Emilie Johnson came off the bench to nail three consecutive three-pointers, sparking the run.

Johnson wasn't the only one who felt the baskets looked a little larger on Thursday. Lauren Pedersen nailed three treys en route to a game-high 15 points and Jordan Franey added 10 points, including 4 of 4 from the free throw line.

"We drilled their defense for three days straight," Gibbons said. "It's hard to zone so many great shooters."

It wasn't just the shooting. UCSB played stalwart defense, limiting the Aggies to 35.3% shooting from the floor, and outrebounded UC Davis 36-26. Jenna Green has seven boards, Pedersen added six rebounds and Franey grabbed five.

UCSB took an 11-pont lead into the half and then jumped to its biggest lead of the night when Ashlee Brown's layup made it 42-24 with 17:08 remaining in the game.

UC Davis briefly challenged, cutting the lead to eight with 3:34 left, but the Gauchos were just shooting too well for the Aggies to pull off another surprise.

"We talked about getting the ball to the right spots and attacking from those spots," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. "They did a great job of attacking."

UCSB will try to make it nine wins in a row in a Saturday matinee vs. Pacific at the Thunderdome at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by calling (805) 893-UCSB, coming to the Ticket Office located inside the Intercollegiate Athletics building on campus or by clicking here.